


Bluepulse Week 2018-Soulmates

by JillyWinchester



Series: Bluepulse Week 2018 [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bluepulse Week 2018, Gen, Love at First Sight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 14:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16683025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillyWinchester/pseuds/JillyWinchester
Summary: Bart never looked at his clock.  It always frustrated him when he did, because the clock that's been attached to his wrist since birth says he met his soulmate 40 years ago.  He’s 14.The story of Bart and Jaime, how they meet, and what happens after(I'm bad at summaries, but it's really good in my opinion, so you should read)





	1. Chapter 1

Bart's clock was broken.  Completely, utterly, destroyed.  The Reach has no idea how it happened.  Bart's mother says he was born with the defect, but this is too strange to be true.  None of the humans have ever had this defect according to records. None. So why was it happening now?  

 

Bart didn't know, nor did he care.  He'd spent his life being poked and prodded by the Reach, having surgery after surgery, test after test, then being sent out to work for Blue Beetle again.  He loathed his stupid soul mark with a burning passion, and just wanted to get away from the Reach.

 

So what if his clock hadn't fallen off yet?  His soulmate was probably dead anyway, so why wound the Reach care that he was defective?  It was so STUPID. 

 

That's why Bart had to get away.  That's how he escaped Blue Beetle in the first place, fueled by the rage that he would never meet his soulmate, and how the Reach constantly reminded him of it.

 

He'd gotten what he needed, built that time machine, and formulated a plan to save the world.  His soulmate was the least of his problems.

 

Until it wasn't.

 

See, the way a soul clock works is that they count down when you'll meet your mate, then fall off when you meet them.  Simple, right? Yeah, but that's not how Bart's clock works at all. His clock counts up. It started at 27 years, two months, 17 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, 2 seconds, but it just kept going up.  Casually looking at Bart's wrist showed that Bart would meet his mate in 40 years, 6 months, 9 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes, 22 minutes. 

 

"Extraordinary, meat," he remembered some Reach scientist saying, "you appear to be moving away from your mate in time."

 

Moving away in time.  Ridiculous. At least, that's what Bart had thought, until it all made sense.  

 

When Bart arrived at Mount Justice, he hadn't really had the time to check his clock.  He had avoided the thing for so long, and he had kinda been busy with the whole "saving gramps" thing.  But when he was finally alone, sitting in the bed Great Grandma Joan had made for him, he got to check. 

 

15 days, 16 hours, 22 minutes, 30 seconds

 

What the hell?

 

\----

 

The internet is a blessed thing.  Articles for teens with their clocks numbers getting lower and lower are the only thing keeping Bart together.  10 days now, and he'll meet the person meant for him. Will it be a girl or a boy? He'd heard that here in the past, with no genetic meddling, there can be same-sex mates.  Will they like him? He'd already been assured that yes, every soulmate loves and cherishes each other, but that didn't stop him from wondering.

 

"Bart," Great Grandpa Jay startled him out of his thoughts.  "Eat your pancakes,"

 

"Right," Bart said, chowing down on the little slices of heaven that were Great Grandma Joan's pancakes.  That's another thing totally crash about the past. TONS of food. Bart had never stuffed his face so much before in his life.  He'd always been hungry before, even when he and Nathan would find the motherload scavenging, he always found it wasn't enough.  Not anymore though, just last night, he and Grandpa Barry had eaten 5 meat lovers pizzas, 30 tacos, 8 orders of spaghetti from 'that place downtown', 6 two liters of Dr. Pepper, 37 medium Mcdonalds fries,a jumbo order of White Castle sliders, and two batches of Grandma Iris's famous triple chocolate chip cookies; it was heaven, and Bart had laid on the couch, stuck in what Wally called a 'food coma' while they watched "Ferris Bueler's Day Off".

 

"What's got you all worried, Bart?" asked Grandma Joan, piling more pancakes on his plate.  

 

"Nothin'," he said, his mouth full of syrupy goodness.

 

"Are you sure?"  Joan didn't look impressed.  Like, at all. "You seem like your vibrating out of your seat all the time,"

 

"I'm a speedster, it's what we do,"  To his right, Bart saw Great Grandpa Jay give Joan the side-eye.  In return, Joan nodded, and oh god that's probably really bad.

 

"Bart, honey, we know you've been worried about your soulmate."

 

"What do you mean?"  Good, he wasn't busted.  Well, he'd have to deal with this 'soulmate' thing and quell their worries, but at least they hadn't found out they he was really here.

 

It seemed it was Jay's turn to speak because he put down his fork with a defining clink on the wooden table.  "I don't know if you have parental controls on your internet in the future, but here, we're allowed to see what you're searching and when.  Apparently, at 3 am last night, you searched 'I'm meeting my soulmate soon and panicking', 'meeting soulmate at 13' and 'what if my soulmate doesn't like me'."  Oh. Nathan hadn't warned him about that. "Bart, time travel is a scary thing, and it can mess up a few clocks. Did you come to this time to meet your soulmate?"

 

Bart looked down in shame and played with a piece of soggy flapjack.  Running with this lie and letting his great-grandparents think they solved the mystery would be the smartest solution.  "I wasn't supposed to go to the past, but my clock was broken. It said I met my soulmate 40 years ago, and it never fell off.  It just kept going up, driving me crazy. I stole dad's time machine and set it just before we were supposed to meet. But it went to early, so I was gonna go back and set it again, but now it's broken and I can't get home."

 

"Oh, Bart"  He found himself being hugged by Great Grandma Joan, "I'm not going to scold you for stealing, I think you've already learned that lesson.  The League is working on reverse-engineering your time machine. They'll figure out how it works soon,"

 

Frankly, Bart didn't care if people from past got a hold of future technology.  Heck, it'd probably help after the whole Reach apocalypse. But he was supposed to.  "No! That'll mess up the whole time stream! What if I disappear like that retro movie Back To The Future!  You can't do that! No. I'm not important enough to risk the entire time stream for." He set his fork down forcefully and got up.  "Thanks for the pancakes great grandma Joan, but Nightwing said he wanted to meet me for something important today. Don't wanna be late, gotta run!" And with that, he was off.


	2. Chapter 2

He hadn't lied, before.  Nightwing had asked him to talk with Black Canary today, said he couldn't miss it.  Bart was bouncing as he ran to the nearest zeta, practically skipping. Black Canary had been a key player in his era, the first line of defense before the earth fell.  Meeting her would be so crash.

\---

Really?  A therapy session?  Totally not crash. Nathan had told him to avoid those.  Said that they lead to a 'mental hospital' a place Nathan described as a prison for people who couldn't control themselves. 

 

This therapy session didn't seem dangerous though.

 

"Call me Dinah," she said, turning on a big camera.

 

"What's that thing for?" Bart asked, looking quizzically at the camera as if he had no idea what the rectangular device was.

 

"It's a camera, I'm recording you, so I remember what you say,"  _ Or so you can analyze my microexpressions later _ , Bart thought. 

 

"So, Bart, may I ask how you got a hold of the time machine?  Surely they're not easy to get a hold of."

"My dad had one in his garage.  I thought I'd take a little trip."  Bart tried very hard not to scratch his nose.

"And the outfit?"

"Oh" thankfully, this one wasn't a lie. "it helps with the drag,"

It continued like that for what seemed like hours but was really probably only 45 minutes.  Never the less, Bart shot out of there as soon as he got the chance.

Once he got out of there, he didn’t really know where to go, so he just ran.  For a long time his legs pounded against asphalt, then grass, the gravel, then asphalt again.  Bart didn't know what state, even what country he was in right now and he didn't care. Lying had never been his forte, especially with the Reach, and he'd always felt so horrible afterward.  Now wasn't any different. 

He ended up in an abandoned playground.  The sun was higher than it was when he left Happy Harbor, so was definitely pretty far from home.  He sat on a creaky swing and kicked at the ground. 

Staring at the clock on his wrist, Bart thought about his soulmate.  Where they were right now, what they were thinking. Were they excited?  Scared? Had they always had a clock like this? He hoped, guiltily, that they weren't a meta.  That way, the Reach couldn't get to them, they would be safe. That way, Bart wouldn’t spend his nights worrying about them.  Well, he probably would, but he wouldn’t as  _ much. _

\---

The next few days were an absolute nightmare.  Bart laid awake at night, worrying about who his mate would be.  He didn't care what they looked like, or if they were a boy or girl, but he kept stressing about whether or not his mate was a meta.  

Bart didn't think he could deal with a meta mate, always having to worry that they were in danger of the Reach.  All he wanted was for them to be safe. Bart would do anything for them now, now that he knew he might actually meet them.  He glanced at his clock. 7 hours, 34 minutes, 22 seconds. According to all the websites he'd visited, Bart had to go through the day normally to make sure nothing weird happened.  Apparently, fate will go to any lengths to pair you up with your mate, so you’d best be where you normally are. One article had even said that once, someone had been kidnapped in order for them to meet their soulmate in time.  Not wanting to be drugged and tied to a chair, he shoved off his covers and left for the kitchen.

Bart shoved his scrambled eggs in his face so fast he barely tasted them.  For the first time in his life, he actually looked at what he was wearing and took his time brushing his teeth.  He was about to run out the door when Great Grandpa Jay grabbed him by the shoulder. "Bart,"

"Yeah?" He asked nervously.  

"I want a phone number, place of residence, I want to meet their parents, and try to get them home for dinner, will you?"

"And Bart?" Joan cut in, cutting across the dining room with a comb in hand.  "Keep this neat," she said, as she began smoothing down his hair.

Bart smiled, nervousness leaving him for a second.  "I will,"


	3. Chapter 3

This was it.  Zero days, 6 hours, 37 minutes, 16 seconds.  Jaime was going to meet his soulmate today. The world seemed to spin as he ate his cereal, and the conversation at the breakfast table was tense to say the least.  Jaime found himself wiping his hands on his dress shirt, cursing that mom had talked him into wearing it. If he was meeting the once he was meant to be with for the rest of his life, shouldn't he be looking like his usual self?  All ratty jeans and band t-shirts?

 

**(JAIME REYES)** Khaji interrupted suddenly.   **(Your heart rate and blood pressure have been rising all morning.  Locate the cause of your stress and eliminate it immediately.)**

 

"That's not gonna happen for a while, hermano, I'm nervous about my soulmate," Jaime whispered, making sure none of his family could hear.  While his parents knew he was the Blue Beetle, they didn't know that the scarab talked to him.

 

"Remember Jaime, keep your normal routine.  According to your clock, you should meet someone after lunch today.  Good luck," said Mr. Reyes bluntly, yet not without care. 

 

"And we want a phone number, the parent's phone number, where they live,-" Mrs. Reyes countered, piling eggs onto her plate. 

 

Without warning, Milagro stood up on her chair.  "And a picture!" she yelled. "I wanna see them! Can we meet them tonight?"

 

"SIT DOWN, Milagro! Stop being a little animal!"

 

Jaime smiled, feeling a bit of the nervousness eating away at him let up.  Milagro always cheered him up.

  
  


\---

  
  


Jaime knew he shouldn't have been disappointed when Nightwing called to pull him out of school.  He knew this was destiny, and that he should be excited. But the fact that he would meet his soulmate as Blue Beetle and not Jaime Reyes hurt something inside of him. At least they wouldn't see that ungodly polo.

 

The flight was longer than usual.  Well, that's what it felt like, because Khaji Da kept talking Jaime's ear off about soulmates.

 

**(JAIME REYES I've done some research on your optimal mates and am confused.  If pairs are perfect for each other, then why are some couples of the same sex and unable to reproduce?)**

 

"Um... Well, mates are chosen more for happiness than anything else."

 

**(I see. Humans are emotional beings, unable to reproduce if depressed.)**

 

"Kind of.  They just don't want to if they aren't happy with the person, what gives you the idea we can't?"

 

**(That media you were watching last night, while a work of fiction, touched on real human emotions.)**

 

"Star Wars?"

 

**(The woman was depressed and died.  I shall see to it that we shield against emotional attack)**

 

Jaime repressed the urge to laugh.  Khaji Da was weird, annoying, and a bit of a psychopath, but he  _ was _ learning.  

 

"Hey Blue, hope I didn't let you out of anything important," came Nightwing over the comms.

 

"Nothing special,"

 

"Good, get in here, we're debriefing soon. Nightwing out."

\----

  
  


Bart had never been more excited in his life.  Sure, he was nervous as hell, but he was going to meet his soulmate!  He was running in circles now, probably a few miles from home, trying to burn off excess adrenaline.   

 

Suddenly, his comm went off, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Bart Allen," he answered, skidding to a stop.  "most crash kid in the world speaking. How may I help you?"

 

"It's me, Garfield.  Nightwing says he has a mission for you."

 

A rock seemed to have splashed into Bart's stomach.  A mission. Not crash. Very not crash. If there was a mission- Bart glanced at his clock- 21 minutes and 17 seconds- that meant he would meet his soulmate as Impulse.  Which could mean so many things. His mate could be in trouble, part of the problem, or they could be a meta. "Crash. Meet you at the cave?"

 

"Yeah.  What the heck does 'crash' mean anyway?"

 

"Um, it's like cool in future-speak,"

 

"M'k.  See ya."  Gar said, hanging up.

 

\---

 

Flips.  Jaime's stomach was doing flips.  Jaime's stomach could be an Olympic gymnast- because it's been doing flips continuously for the last fifteen minutes- and wow, how the heck had it not been brought down to his feet when his heart came crashing down?  It's been too long. Nightwing should have debriefed them by now. They should already be on route. Jaime should be on his way to meet his soulmate. To unmask when their clocks fall off (he'd already instructed Khaji Da to let the thing fall, to let it clink to the floor and alert the world that he had met his love) and introduce himself.  

 

1 minute, 3 seconds.  If the mission were as urgent as everyone seemed to think, Nightwing would have been out seconds after everyone arrived, and babbled like he always did when he was excited.  Something was wrong. Something was going to happen. He didn't see any strangers in the room, and as far as he knew, there was no one else he'd yet to meet. Something was going to happen.  Someone was going to burst in. 

 

"Afternoon everyone!"  **(JAIME REYES, ATTACK)**  Jaime has to fight Khaji not to suit up.   **(Apologies, Jaime Reyes, it appears only to be your leader and a child he has brought)**

 

"A child?" Jaime whispers, whipping his head around.  It was true-well, Jaime wouldn't call the guy a child-  there was a kid, about 14, who had entered with Nightwing and was now talking to Beast Boy excitedly.  He was white, auburn-haired, green-eyed, and utterly  _ covered _ in freckles.  

 

Jaime felt a tug from somewhere deep within him, telling him to move forward.  He did, coming up next to Tim. "Who's that?" he asked.

 

"Bart Allen.  Flash's grandson from the future." Tim is staring at Gar, who had now turned into a little green monkey and was climbing all over Bart's back.

 

"The future?" Jaime asks, trying to keep his composure but failing just a smidge.  Come on, time travel? Epic.  **(Jaime Reyes, the Bart Allen does read of trace signatures of artron energy, which some species have come to believe has time-travel capabilities.  Hacking League records show that a DNA test was performed, and the Bart Allen is related to the Barry Allen)**

 

"Yeah.  No one believed it at first, but he appeared out of thin air in this big machine, and a paternity test confirmed he's Barry's grandson."

 

"Cool.  He nice?"  **(Niceness should not be your main concern, Jaime Reyes.  Whether he is an ally or hostile should be more important than 'niceness.'  And to answer the previous question, the League records show that the Bart Allen proved his loyalties while saving the Flash from a villain he called "Neutron."  This may only be to gain the League's trust however, indicating he should not be trusted.)**

 

"I haven't really talked to him, Gar seems to like him though.  He's earned Flash's trust. Guy saved him from some villain trying to blow up Central City."

 

"So I assume he has the Allen legacy?"

 

"It's why he's going on this mission."

 

Jaime felt the same tug he had earlier, this time pulling him to where Gar, Cassie, and Bart were talking.  Now, Gar had turned into a falcon and was perching on Cassie's shoulder while she showed Bart her bracelets.  

 

"They're called bracelets of submission!" she was saying.  "Ouch, Gar! Loosen up on the claws- Anyway, every Amazonian warrior has them!  I just got mine about a year ago. It's really important, a symbol I'm a real warrior.  See the silver bits? That's an award for courage. Oh- hey Jaime,"

 

"Hey, Cassie."

 

"Jaime, this is Bart- Bart, this is Jaime." A pair of metallic clinks followed the introduction.

 

Everyone stood stock-still.  You could hear a pin drop. Jaime and Bart's clocks had fallen off, at the exact same time.


	4. Chapter 4

_So not crash so not crash so NOT CRASH.  Jaime was here! He was here in the cave meaning he was probably a meta, meaning the Reach was going to going after him and Bart couldn't lose a soulmate- not again.  Wait. No. He'd never lost a soulmate. Never even had one._

 

"You ok, ese?" Jaime said, pulling him out of his thoughts.  Cassie and Gar had left them alone to talk. "You seemed a little spaced out."

 

"Yeah! Totally!"  God, why was Bart lying so terribly?  Maybe it was the fact that Jaime was his soulmate, or that Jaime had caught him off guard or whatever.  "just so glad to meet you! Before, my clock was all moded, ya know? Said I met you 40 years ago; now it finally makes sense,”

 

"Oh, uh, wow, that must have been terrible." Jaime was looking down at him sympathetically.  

 

It had been terrible.  The only light in most of the prisoners' lives was the knowledge that one day they would meet their soulmate.  That even in that dark, cruel world, they would one day see the light. Bart hadn't had that. The Reach scientists had taken one look at him and decided that he was broken.  His clock counted up, not down. They thought he was soulless- that he would be a good experiment- a good worker.

 

Bart's blood pounded in his ears, his heart thudding in his chest.  He should have been used to that. His heart was faster than others, but this was different.  He couldn't breathe. He wanted to run- to get away from all this and just _run_.  But he couldn't. Wouldn't.  Jaime was here, and so was the Reach.  He had to protect Jaime. He had to find the Blue Beetle and kill him.  

 

"Bart?"  There was a hand on his shoulder. "Bart?  Hermano, you okay?"

 

Yes.  Jaime.  Bart barely knew him, only knew his name, but fate wanted them together.  They were written in the stars. Jaime was here. He had to protect Jaime.

 

"Yeah?  I'm good.  Great! Hey, when's this mission supposed to happen anyway?"  His heart was still pounding, but it lessened when he looked at Jaime.  Jaime, whom he had to protect. Jaime, who was his, Jaime, to who he belonged.

 

Jaime didn't look convinced but didn't have a chance to say anything because Nightwing chose that time to start debriefing.

 

_"Gather round, gather round ladies and gents.  Everyone's here, let's start the mission." All conversation stopped in respect for Nightwing.  Everyone came together in the center of the room, ready to listen._

 

_"Congratulations to Jaime and Bart." Everyone began to clap.  "But we have a job to do." Nightwing turned, and a hologram presentation appeared behind him.  "This is a covert, recon mission only."_

 


	5. Chapter 5

"So, um.. my family kind of wants to meet you,"  Jaime says after the mission. Jaime and Bart were sitting together on the bioship, alone.  People wanted to give them their space. Which was fine, Bart welcomed it, even. But it felt like half the ship expected them to start making out or something, and they  _ were not _ ready for that.  

 

"Mine wants to meet you too.  Where do you live?"

 

"El Paso."

 

There was an awkward pause.  Bart knew they were mates, but he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed with Jaime.  He felt safe around him- like he could do anything, be anything. His heart fluttered, and Bart knew he would do anything for Jaime.  He'd save him from the Reach, and keep him from going on mode. 

 

"I'm in Central City.  Does your family know you're Blue Beetle?"

 

"My parents do, but no one else.  I've got a sister, Milagro. And my Abuela visits a bunch.  She's probably there now, refusing to leave until I tell her about you or bring you to her."

 

A beat.  Bart began bouncing his leg.  "Heads or Tails?"

 

Jaime smiled as if he knew exactly what Bart meant.  Of course he did. "Tails,"

 

Bart stood and walked over to where his jacket was hanging by the entrance.  Digging in the pocket, Bart pulled out a nickel. (Unfortunately, to help with the drag Bart's suit had no pockets.  A terrible burden he and Cassie like to complain about). He walked over to Jaime and showed him the nickel, suddenly feeling he was being watched.  Oh well. The others were just interested in a little drama, and they weren't going to get any. "We don't have coins, in the future. Or money in general.  My Grandma Iris had to come over and teach me about it. It's so weird. Why is a dollar 100 cents when a minute is only 60? Who planned that?"

 

Jaime smiled and grabbed Bart's hand, pulling him to sit next to him.  Bart was vaguely aware of Gar handing Robin a 10. 

 

"Who taught you about coin flipping?"  Jaime took the coin, flipped it, caught it in midair, flipped it again and repeated the process three times.  "It's not exactly something that happens every day."

 

"My family got together a few weeks ago, and they couldn't decide which movie to play, Ferris Bueler's Day Off, or Transformers."

 

Jaime was still hiding the results of the toss.  "Which won?"

 

"Ferris Bueler's Day Off,"

 

"Was it good? I heard it was good."

 

"Yeah.  Funny. Didn't understand some of it because, ya know, I'm a future-kid."

 

Jaime smirked and turned his hand over, revealing the nickel's backside.  "Tails, I win. What do I win?" Jaime knew what he'd won of course, but the kid didn't want to be forward.  Demanding he was the one to host wasn't very considerate.

 

"You said your parents wanted to meet me?  Well, I'll grace them with my presence if you agree on meeting my family."

 

"Deal"

 

\---

 

Practically all the lights were on in the Reyes' household.  Jaime's family had just decided to wait up for him. It was nearly nine o'clock, not late for Bart or Jaime, but a Grandma, a ten-year-old, and two anxious parents got pretty impatient.  

 

Jaime and Bart were stood at the doorstep, and again Bart got the feeling he was being watched.  Maybe Milagro was watching out the window for them? He didn't look, because it seemed Jaime hadn't decided whether he was going to open the door yet.  He was squinting at the knob, mumbling.

 

"Something wrong?"

 

"They left the door unlocked."

 

"How did you know that?"

 

"The scarab told me."   Oh, was that a great thought.  The scarab actually  _ talked  _ to Jaime.  

 

Jaime's shoulders slumped, and he sighed.  "Let's go,"

 

Jaime opened the door, and only a second later, an explosion of voices went off.  "SURPRISE!!!"

 

It seemed  Jaime's whole family had been waiting to surprise them.  Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, everyone was there.  They spent most of the night passing Jaime and Bart around, asking all sorts of questions.  Where did they meet? Where was Bart from? How did he like school? What was his favorite subject?  What did he plan to be when he finished school? What college was he planning to go to? They went on and on.  Thankfully, Bart had been prepared. He had a lie ready for every possible question. Even though he hated lying, these lies were necessary. 

 

By the end of the night, when everyone was well fed and tired, the questions slowed to a halt.  People left, and Bart and Jaime were left alone in the living room. Milagro had been sent to bed an hour ago, and Jaime's abuela was asleep in the other room.  

 

"How did you two really meet?"  asks Mrs. Reyes, picking at her chocolate pie with little interest.

 

"A mission."

 

"So?"

 

"Bart's on the team.  He's a speedster from the future."

 

The questions continued, and Bart continued giving answers.  Pretty soon, Jaime was insisting he calls him when he gets home.

 

Bart did, and they spent the whole night talking.  About anything and everything. By midnight, Bart was getting tired, and reckless.

 

"You're the reason I came to the past,"

 

"What?"

 

"I told you earlier that my clock was totally toast in the future, right?"

 

"Yeah,"

 

"I had, um, given up on the whole soulmate thing.  People had poked and prodded at me for so long, asking if I was a sociopath, that I just didn't care anymore."

 

"Bart- what do you mean-" Jaime sounded worried.  Confused. Scared. But Bart had to finish. Jaime would understand once he finished.  

 

"The future is moded.  Completely, utterly moded.  An alien race called the Reach takes over and enslaves humanity.  I came to the past to fix that. See, Blue Beetle becomes the biggest bad in history.  I, I came to stop you from betraying the human race."

 

Silence. Bart thought for a second that maybe Jaime had hung up.  But then, he said, "But, I would never-"

 

"I know.  I know." It was crucial to Bart that Jaime understood that.  "I don't know how, I don't know why, but one day you betray humanity.  I'm here to stop that."

 

"Bart,"  Jaime says after a moment.  "You're soulmates with the biggest bad of your time."

 

_ Oh, Jaime _ .  Even when he's been given soul-crushing news, news that would send any normal person into an identity crisis, Jaime thought of Bart.  

 

"No.  You are not him."  Bart said, determined that Jaime understand.  "He is a monster. You are my mate. We've only known each other for a few hours, but I love you."

 

"Bart?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"I love you too,"


End file.
